Saturday, October 11, 2014

Bushel of Fun! Bad Apple--Perfect Day by Edward Hemingway

MAC COULDN'T WAIT TO GET TO THE WATER HOLE.
ON A SUNNY DAY THERE WAS NO BETTER PLACE TO BE.

MAC SAID, "TODAY I WILL SHOW YOU--"

--"YOUR FAMOUS SOMERSAULT DIVE?" WILL GUESSED.

Mac's and Will's friendship had a downright disturbing start. Will is a kind of worm, not an "earworm," one of those songs that keeps playing in your head, but an actual green worm, who took up residence inside Mac's head, in their first book, Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship. At first, all his other apple friends picked on Mac, calling him "Bad Apple" and shunning his company, jeering that he would spoil their whole barrel. Lonely Mac soon discovered, however, that Will was a worm with more a-peel than any of the Sour Apple gang, and, making the best of a bad situation, the two became, er, close friends.

Now the besties decide to celebrate with a perfect day's fun, having a duo dip in the ol' swimming hole. But alas, when they arrive, they find the watering hole had been mostly evaporating in the summer sun, leaving nothing but its muddy bottom in sight. But Mac has a way of looking on the bright side of every scene.

WHO SAYS MUD CAN'T BE FUN?

SPLAT!

Mac and Will jump right into building a mud city, complete with skyscrapers and an apartment complex Will names Casa de Worms. By the time the Sour Apples come by and pause to jeer, the mud city is a magnificent thing, and they can't resist joining in the fun. Granny Smith gets into the game, and when the little Crab Apple gang parachutes into Mud City, it's a fruit basket turnover!

But just as everybody is getting down and dirty, a sudden rainstorm comes along and re-fills the watering hole with fresh water. Mud City submerges like Atlantis, but Mac's buoyant spirits never sink.

For Mac and Will, at last it's time to make a splash on the scene.

"GERONIMO!"

And all the apple dive in and float in the pond together along with Mac and Will.

It's bobbing for all the apples in Edward Hemingway's Bad Apple's Perfect Day (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2014). Hemingway's upbeat story line and retro-styled comic illustrations seem to have considerable ap-peel, despite the the story's rather unusual premise. For a bushel and a peck of apple fun, pare, er, pair this one with its predecessor, Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship.

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Retired after 32+ years as an elementary librarian, I really miss the joy of bringing together the right book with the right reader at the right time. Loving both kids and books equally as I do, perhaps helping children and the adults who care about them find good books through this blog is the next best thing to being there.
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